Finding Him Happiness
by Slytherinjunkie20
Summary: Fleur plays matchmaker for her husband when her days become numbered.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Finding Him Happiness  
**Author:** Slytherinjunkie

**Rating:**PG13

**Pairing(s)**: Bill/Fleur, Bill/Luna

**Warnings (if any): **Death of a character, mourning :'(  
**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling retains the ownership of all characters and settings borrowed from the Harry Potter series of books.

**Summary:** Fleur plays matchmaker for her husband when her days become numbered.

**Authors notes:** Even though I finished this fic months ago, I have finally decided to post it. I wrote this for the Bill Ficathon fest and found that while writing it, I was actually using it as a way to heal from all of the loss that I have had this past year (I've lost a lot of people this year—the hardest death being my young cousin who passed away at the age of sixteen).

As I was reading through it today and preparing it to post, I didn't realize how much heart I put into it until in the middle of it, I began to cry. I wrote this from a very sad and deep place and chances are, you will need a box of tissues by the end of it (at least, everyone who reviewed it during the fest did). Still, I hope that by the end of this fic, you feel at least some semblance of peace and acceptance.

As always, reviews are appreciated—even for something as sad as this fic :)

Enjoy!

Fleur Weasley sat on a cold table in the freezing examination room. She had been sitting in that same spot for more than thirty minutes, waiting for the results of her test. It was ridiculous, really, how they were making her wait for so long. She'd already endured all of their poking and prodding and even requested a special day off of work for her to be at this appointment. She found it quite rude that they would make her wait this long.

But Fleur was willing to endure it all. She and her husband Bill had been trying to have children for more than three years and after many frustrating pregnancy tests that came up negative, they decided it was best to get some fertility testing done to figure out what was wrong.

Bill's test had been quite simple. He simply had to give them a semen sample. Not only was Bill's sperm count healthy, but that it was higher than normal. One really shouldn't have expected anything less with a family as large as his.

So then the focus went to Fleur. Her tests were a lot more invasive and intensive. She actually had to go through two grueling weeks of checking her hormone balance, her egg count and suffering many other female reproductive tests that could have factored into her infertility problems.

They were invasive procedures but Fleur was happy to figure out what was going wrong in order to take the next step towards starting her family.

The door finally opened and the Mediwitch walked into the room.

Butterflies ignited in Fleur's stomach. Gods, she was so nervous. The last thing she wanted to hear was that there was nothing they could do to help her start a family.

"Well, Mrs. Weasley, we have found out why you have been having problems conceiving," the Mediwitch said.

"Yes, yes, that is what I am here for. What are the results?" Fleur asked impatiently.

The Mediwitch put her clip board-down, her face grim and dark. Fleur knew right away that whatever news she had, it wasn't good news.

"Mrs. Weasley, you have ovarian cancer."

Fleur simply stared at the woman, her entire body numb.

"What?"

"You have ovarian cancer. Your right ovary has a tumor almost bigger than the ovary itself. The tumor has spread to your fallopian tube and uterus and is just beginning to spread into the cervix."

Fleur continued to stare, the information going through one ear and coming out of the other.

"The tumor looks as if it has been there for quite some time. Unfortunately, the tumor cannot simply be taken out since the major blood vessels of your reproductive system are connected to it."

Despite her blank stare, the Mediwitch continued telling Fleur about cancer.

"Other treatments are available; however with a tumor that size, there is little chance that the tumor will be destroyed."

Fleur, who had not spoken, finally voiced her fear.

"Will I die?"

The Mediwitch gave Fleur a sad look.

"I'm afraid you don't have much time left, Mrs. Weasley."

Fleur nodded faintly and slid from the examination table.

"Thank you," Fleur said faintly.

The Mediwitch looked at Fleur with a concern.

"Will you be alright, Mrs. Weasley? Do you need for me to call anyone? Maybe your husband?"

Fleur gave the Mediwitch a brittle smile.

"No … no, I … I need some time to myself. But thank you. "

She walked out of the examination room and down the long, sterile hallway before taking the lift down to the ground level.

A few more steps and she was outside of St. Mungos, staring blankly at the hustle and bustle of people going in and out of the entrance of the hospital.

Fleur walked to a park nearby, barely recalling how her numb legs managed to carry her there.

She sat down on the park bench. The day was quite beautiful. The trees were green with life and the temperature perfect.

It was with a heavy heart that she realized that soon she'd never be able to enjoy a day like this ever again.

A young couple passed her, holding hands as they pushed a stroller forward. The baby had red hair, and was chewing on a toy while cooing happily.

At this sight, Fleur broke down and began crying heavily.

She didn't care about being embarrassed, didn't care about what people would think.

She just sobbed and sobbed, the injustice and sorrow of the news she found out that day pouring out of her.

Suddenly, Fleur was embraced. It was a warm one, one where she could tell that the stranger holding her only wanted what was best for her.

If anything, the warm embrace made her sob harder.

The stranger rocked her back and forth, giving her words of encouragement, telling her that it would be okay, that things would work out the way they were supposed to.

Finally, Fleur's sobs died down to silent tears.

"Oh, I am such a fool. I am so sorry for babbling like a big baby," she apologized, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her robes to clear the bleariness from it.

"Never be sorry for needing a shoulder to cry on Miss. After all, Nargles have a tendency to try and make people hold in emotions that should be released," the stranger said, handing her a handkerchief.

Fleur dabbed her eyes and finally looked into the face of the person who comforted her.

Staring back at her with a slightly dazed expression was a petite, pixie-like girl with hair so blonde it was almost white. She had a heart-shaped face with stunning blue eyes and Cupid's bow lips.

She had a flower in her hair and radish earrings hanging from her ears. A quill was stuck behind one of them, giving away the fact that she was a witch and not just a kind Muggle.

Fleur blinked, trying to take in the woman and understand her.

The woman, however, didn't give her a chance.

"Come, let me take you out to tea and you can tell me anything. I promise what you say will stay between you and me. Snorkels honor," the girl said, putting her right hand to her heart.

Fleur was torn. On one hand, the girl was a little … strange and she wasn't sure if she should follow a complete stranger into Muggle London to have tea. Especially a stranger, who for some odd reason, talked about magical creatures that were on ancient Egyptian tombs. On the other hand, however, Fleur needed someone to talk to. And she figured the girl wasn't really that bad if she was willing to comfort a stranger in a park.

"Tea would be lovely," Fleur said.

S~*S~*S~*S

Three cups of tea and a plate of tea cakes later, Fleur told Luna everything from how she met Bill to her recent discovery of cancer.

It turned out the girl who comforted her in the park was Luna Lovegood, the daughter of the owner of the Quibbler.

Apparently, Luna knew the Weasley family quite well, though she knew the younger generation from Fred and George down to the youngest Weasley better than she knew Bill or the older Weasley children. Even more surprising was that Luna was actually at her and Bill's wedding, though Fleur didn't remember seeing her.

To be fair, Fleur didn't really remember her wedding much as all of her memories mainly of Bill giving her a dashing smile throughout the magical night.

Fleur looked at the Muggle wrist watch her father-in-law got for her and was quite surprised to see that it was almost dinner.

"_Mon Dieu!_ I didn't realize how late it was. I must get home before Bill begins to worry about me," Fleur said.

Luna put a hand on Fleur to stop her from moving.

"One more thing before you go, Fleur," she said.

Fleur would have resisted if it weren't for Luna being strangely forward.

"I know you are very sad in learning that you don't have much time left with us in the world of living. While you cope with this, however, I ask that instead of mourning about what you don't have, to celebrate what you do. You are going to die, but that was going to happen eventually anyway. You have a chance to make requests, to comfort people, to give people lasting memories of your smiles and your laughs, to make people as happy as you can before you go. Most people are taken away without these opportunities. Take advantage of the fact that you can help guide how people will mourn you. It is a small blessing in a situation as sad as yours."

Fleur blinked at the mini speech, quite surprised that the girl who seemed to be dreamy most of the time said such wise words.

"I will keep your thoughts in mind, Luna. Please, owl me soon so we can have tea again," Fleur said.

Luna's expression became dreamy again.

"Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

S~*S~*S~*S

Fleur disapparated to the small seaside cottage that she shared with her husband Bill. It was already starting to get dark and the lights inside were on.

She walked into the cottage to find Bill in the kitchen cooking supper. Fleur smiled. Some would have taken Bill for a traditional kind of man. In reality, however, he was very sweet and if she wasn't home in time to start supper, he would be the one to fix it.

They worked out to have quite a wonderful, loving partnership. And suddenly, Fleur realized how lucky she was to have such a fantastic life with an even more fantastic husband.

"Fleur, is that you?" Bill called from the kitchen.

"Yes, chéri, it is me," she called back.

Bill walked out of the kitchen, wearing a bright pink apron over his leather pants and tight, muscle shirt.

Granted, he looked a little silly, but Fleur melted at the sight of her husband's slim body as she always did.

The slim body soon embraced her and his beautiful lips were kissing hers.

"Hey, love, what took you so long? I know you had an appointment today but I didn't think it would run that long," he said.

And the memory of what she had to tell Bill hit her hard. Bill could feel her body tense against his and his pleasant expression soon turned into one of concern.

"Fleur—love, what's the matter?" he asked, embracing her again.

Fleur sighed.

"I think you may want to sit down for this, Bill. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"Does this have to do with our fertility problems, Fleur? Because if that is what this is about then I'm all right with not having any children. There are so many children out there that need to be adopted any way and—"

"_Mon Dieu,_ Bill. Just sit down and I will tell you what is wrong. We will talk about our options after."

Bill nodded and walked over to the couch, sitting down heavily.

Fleur sat down lightly next to him.

She grabbed Bill's hand, rubbing small circles onto the top of it. She didn't know how she was going to tell him. After all, it wasn't every day that one told their spouse that they didn't have much of a chance of living for the next year.

Fleur decided be straight forward. Bill wouldn't expect anything less from her in that respect.

"As you already know, today was the day I went to get the results of my fertility test. And they did give me the reason as to why we can't conceive."

Fleur took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to get a hold of the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks.

She opened her eyes and reached out to cup Bill's cheek. His five o'clock shadow was in with vengeance. She loved the way his rough face rubbed against her soft skin when they made love at night.

However, the stubble was simply a grim reminder that she would not get that many chances to touch it again.

Bill looked beyond worried at the expression on Fleur's face.

"Fleur," he whispered, his own rough hands cupping her cheek.

The tears spilled from Fleur's eyes at the sound of his voice.

"Bill … Bill, _mon__chéri_, I have cancer," she whispered.

Bill reacted the same way she did when she found out. He simply stared at her blankly, but from the way his eyes shone, he was trying to process what she said.

"Cancer?" he repeated.

Fleur nodded.

"Ovarian cancer. There is a tumor in my ovaries that has spread all the way down to my cervix."

Fleur's heart broke as Bill's eyes began to fill with tears. More came trickling down her face.

"Is there anything that can be done?" he asked.

"They can't remove the tumors because they are connected to major blood vessels within my body. They have other treatments, but they will be ineffective."

"Fleur … Fleur, sweet-heart, please don't tell me you're going to die," Bill whispered.

Fleur could only nod her head as the tears overwhelmed her. She embraced Bill and began to sob.

Bill, being the strong man that he was patted her back and whispered words of comfort, rocking her gently.

Fleur didn't have to look at him to know that he was silently crying as well. But if there was anything she knew about Bill, it was that his tears would be gone tomorrow in an act of strength.

When it came to this, however, Fleur did not want Bill to suppress his emotions.

It was one thing for Bill to be frustrated when he couldn't break a curse. Trying to deal with the fact that she wasn't going to be around much longer was something Bill couldn't treat like another curse breaking case.

And as Bill rocked her and comforted her, Fleur decided that before she left this earth, she would find someone that Bill could cry to, someone that would allow Bill to fondly remember her while at the same time make it possible for him to live life.

Fleur needed to find a mate that would make her husband happy and whole. She had been working towards it and Bill had been adapting to becoming more sensitive, but with her days on earth being limited, she needed someone who could pick up where she left off.

Pulling away, Fleur smiled sadly at Bill.

"Come, we shall order take out and snuggle in front of the fire. We will talk more about this tomorrow," Fleur said.

Bill smiled sadly back.

"Of course, love. Anything you want."

Bill stood, running his hand through his rich, auburn hair.

Fleur sighed as she watched her husband walk back to the kitchen.

Luna Lovegood was right. It was hard accepting that she was to die, but maybe organizing life and trying to make her loved ones as happy as she could before she passed away would make accepting death easier for her.

S~*S~*S~*S

The first thing Fleur did the morning after finding out about her cancer was quit her job. She informed the Goblins of her predicament and the Goblins were surprisingly sympathetic and gave her quite a generous bonus before she left.

They even gave Bill a two week paid vacation and told him to be with her.

After quitting her job, Fleur went back to the hospital and looked over her options more carefully.

Despite the magical world having some advantages over the Muggle world, there were no real magical advances in cancer treatments. This was because cancer very rarely showed up in witches and wizards who had more than five generations of magic in their family tree.

Her veela blood only made the cancer more aggressive as the magical and veela cells were fighting each other with vengeance.

The only real option that Fleur had was chemo-therapy, and that wasn't really an option since the cancer that she was dealing with was extremely aggressive.

Fleur had to make a very difficult decision. Start the chemo and be extremely sick all of the time with very slim chance of survival or accept her fate and just die when it was time.

Fleur was normally a fighter. It was one of the things that drew Bill to her in the first place. He told her countless times that he loved her determination in solving a dangerous curse or the way she never backed down from a Quidditch argument with Charlie. Fleur knew that Bill thought she was going to fight the cancer.

So when Fleur said she was not going to fight the cancer, she knew she had shocked Bill.

After they had left the hospital he wouldn't talk to her and instead went into the kitchen to make supper.

Fleur knew that Bill would be upset at that decision. She knew he would see her rejecting the chemo therapy as a slight on him, even if he didn't know that was why he was so upset yet.

Fleur had gone into the kitchen and embraced Bill from the back.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"I will die, Bill. There is no chance that the chemo therapy will make the cancer go away—the tumor is too big. I would rather spend the time I have left in this world enjoying life rather than spend it sick and weak."

Bill said nothing, but the pat Fleur felt on her hand was enough to know that his perspective changed.

A week after Fleur found out about her sickness, she still had yet to tell her friends and family.

She knew that the more she put it off, the less time she had with them but she was dreading to see the look in her parents' eyes when she told them that she was dying. It was not a conversation she was looking forward to.

The night before Fleur was going to break the news to both her family and the Weasley family; there was a knock on her door.

Bill had pretty much taken over making sure that meals were served so Fleur left the sofa to answer it.

On the other side of the door, to her surprise, was dreamy eyed Luna.

"Hi, Fleur. I hope you are feeling much better today," she said, slightly swaying back and forth.

Fleur embraced Luna tightly.

"Oh, Luna! So good of you to come. I am so sorry I have been missing our tea dates. Won't you please come in?"

Without waiting for her to consent or decline, Fleur pulled Luna into the house.

"Come, come! Sit!" Fleur ordered dragging Luna over to the sofa.

Luna didn't fight her, simply followed and hummed underneath her breath.

"Who was at the door, love?" Bill asked.

"My dear friend Luna," Fleur said, walking into the kitchen to make tea.

"Luna? I don't know if I ever met her," Bill said.

Fleur rolled her eyes.

"She was at our wedding, mon chéri."

Bill still had his eyebrow furrowed as he waved his wand over the stew to turn down the heat to a simmer.

"Is she the one with the black hair and the weird eye thing?" Bill asked.

Fleur sighed and went to the cupboard to grab three mugs.

"No, Luna has blonde hair and blue eyes," she said patiently.

Bill hummed an affirmative to show that he was listening.

"So, how come I haven't met her before now?" he asked.

Fleur busied herself putting the tea leaves into a tea pot. The last thing she wanted to do at that moment was to let Bill know that one other person, almost a complete stranger knew about her cancer before he did.

Though Bill was an understanding man, he had a pretty quick temper and sometimes within their relationship had the tendency to act before thinking things through.

Luckily for Fleur, the kettle went off and she further busied herself pouring the tea and setting up a tray.

"Fleur?"

Fleur looked at Bill innocently.

"Oui?"

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Bill asked, crossing his arms over his ridiculous pink apron.

Fleur did everything she could not to laugh at the picture.

"Non," Fleur said walking out of the kitchen.

Luna was sitting patiently on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling with wide eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you had so many Humplefranks here?" she asked her voice in awe.

"Excusé moi? Humple-who?" Fleur asked, setting the tray down.

"Oh, darn, they're gone now," Luna said as her eyes filled with disappointment.

Fleur decided to ignore the strange moment.

"Would you like cream or sugar?" she asked.

"A bit of cream please. Oh, Bill! You look so nice in pink," Luna exclaimed, clapping her hands in happiness.

Fleur looked over her shoulder and couldn't stop smirking at the way Bill blushed at Luna's compliment.

It was quite a feat to get Bill to blush and Fleur was enjoying every moment of it.

He cleared his throat.

"You know me, but I'm afraid I don't know who you are," Bill said.

"My name is Luna. I was at your wedding," she said, swaying once again.

Bill raised an eyebrow.

"So I've been told. I don't know why I don't remember you," Bill said.

"You were too busy making eyes at Fleur to notice me," Luna said.

For the second time that night, Bill blushed.

Fleur was quite impressed and silently commended Luna.

"Yes, well, how did you two become acquainted again? It's been about seven years since our wedding," Bill said.

Fleur felt butterflies in her stomach. She clutched her tea tightly waiting for the inevitable explosion of Weasley temper.

To her surprise, Luna stared with an expression of curiosity.

The room was silent for a full minute before Luna spoke.

"I was in London a week ago looking for the three horned Snorkel Bit when I came upon Fleur. She was sitting on a bench, staring into the distance without a point. Of course, I thought she had been possessed by the Snorkel Bit when all of a sudden, she burst out crying. I rushed to her side right away because everyone knows the best way to comfort someone who has been possessed by a Snorkel Bit is to hug them. So I hugged her until the Snorkel Bit went away. We went to have tea afterward and that's when I found out that she just found out she had cancer."

Luna stopped speaking and took a sip of her tea.

Fleur was staring at Luna, her mouth wide open. She looked to Bill who also had an expression of awe on his face.

Bill cleared his throat.

"Well, erhm, thank you for comforting Fleur when I wasn't there to do so. Would you like to stay for dinner with Fleur and I?" he asked.

Fleur raised an eyebrow at Bill's question. She was surprised at how well that all went. The interaction between both Luna and Bill was quite fascinating.

"I'm afraid I can't stay for too much longer. I just came to make sure Fleur was doing okay and to make sure the Snorkel Bits haven't returned," Luna said.

"No no, I insist you stay, Luna," Fleur said, setting her mug down.

"I really wish I could, Fleur, but daddy is expecting me back soon."

Luna set her mug down before making an exclamation.

"Oh! I nearly forgot. Fleur, how would you like to be interviewed about your sickness for the Quibbler? Daddy has given me permission to do a whole entire special edition issue on strong women and I thought it would be great for you to tell your story so witches and wizards could be informed about cancer as its still such a new phenomenon in the magical world."

Fleur felt her eyes tear up at Luna's words.

She embraced Luna, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh, of course I will do a story if it can help just one other witch or wizard."

After setting a time to get together again, Luna left the cottage.

Closing the door, Bill looked to Fleur was a curious expression on his face.

"She is a strange woman—a good person, but very strange indeed."

After giving Fleur a kiss on the cheek Bill left the living room.

Fleur cocked her head to the side and studied her husband as he walked out of the room.

Yes, Luna was quite a woman indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Fleur sat in the shared study writing letters to her loved ones.

At this point, all of her friends and family knew about her condition. She had been through quite a bit of crying and denial but for the most part, she was quite happy that everything was out.

She found it quite strange to be writing letters as if she was already dead, but Luna was right. She had a chance to tell people how she felt before she died, something not everyone had a chance to do. She was going to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

As she was getting into the letter to her mother, the doorbell rang.

"Bill, can you get that please? Merci," Fleur shouted from her desk.

When she heard Bill walk toward the door, she focused back on what she was writing.

Twenty minutes later, she sanded the parchment, rolled it up and put it in a secret hiding place in the desk.

She stood, walking toward the living room.

Fleur stopped when she heard Bill laugh.

It had been so long since she heard him sound so carefree. Since finding out about her cancer, he had focused quite a bit of energy and attention on her, even taking a leave indefinitely from his job to be with her.

She could tell he was hurting. She could see it every time she looked into his eyes.

Fleur listened in on the conversation to see what was making Bill laugh so hard.

"And then what happened?"

"Well, after tying him to a chair, she conjured up a giant spider. It started to crawl near him and even play with his robes a little bit. You know, when Ron screams he sounds a lot like a herd of Nargles."

Bill laughed again, the sweet sound of it filling Fleur with warmness.

Fleur peaked over the corner and smiled when she saw Bill holding his stomach with one hand while wiping his eyes with another.

"Merlin, I knew Ron wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree, but cheating on Hermione that way was incredibly stupid!" he exclaimed.

"It's not Ron's fault, the Nargles hit him with a vengeance when Lavender passed him during dinner one day."

Bill chuckled.

"Did Hermione eventually let him go?"

"She did only after the spider nearly bit his face off. After that they were no longer dating and Ron wouldn't even look at Lavender."

"Gods, I wish I had known this a last night when we went to the Burrow."

"How did telling the family about Fleur go, by the way?" Luna asked suddenly.

The smile slowly melted from Bill's face.

"Fleur's family didn't take it too well. Her mum and dad are very angry at her for not taking the treatment that was offered to her and her sister cried a lot. They are devastated."

Fleur closed her eyes. Bill was right. Her family did not take the news well. Her parents had been very upset to know that she wasn't taking on treatment and haven't contacted her since. And her little sister burst into tears every time she looked at her.

"What about your family? How did they take it?" Luna asked.

Bill rubbed the back of his neck.

"To be honest—I think they pity me. Not to say they aren't sad for Fleur, but it was almost as if they didn't know what to say to me after we told them."

Fleur was quite surprised at the admission.

Bill was right in the sense that the Weasley family had been very sad about hearing of her cancer. She was hugged and given total support for her choice in not taking the treatment.

In fact, Bill hadn't mentioned his family to her again when they came back from the dinner.

She didn't realize that he had been treated differently because of her sickness.

Luna looked at him sympathetically and reached out to put her hand over his.

They both made eye contact.

Fleur watched as they both communicated without saying a word to each other.

Finally, Luna spoke.

"I hope you find peace with it eventually."

Bill smiled and put his free hand over hers and squeezed.

"Thank you, Luna," he said quietly.

Smiling, Luna took her hand from his.

Bill stood and cleared his throat.

"I'll … uh … I'll go check on dinner."

He quickly left the room.

Luna stared at his retreating back with a serene smile.

Fleur looked away from the living room and leaned back against the hallway wall.

Bill and Luna were meant to be together after she died.

She didn't know how she knew. The only clue that she had was her heart telling her it was so.

Strangely enough, Fleur wasn't jealous of upon the revelation.

If anything, her heart felt strangely light.

Her Bill would be taken care of the way he needed, even when she was gone.

Fleur smiled and walked into the living room to talk with Luna.

B*~B*~B*~B

As the days passed by, the cancer was really taking a toll on Fleur. She was weaker and simple things like moving or preparing dinner was becoming harder for her.

Fleur's deteriorating health was taking a toll on Bill as well. It wasn't that Bill couldn't take over the housework and take care of Fleur; it was just getting harder for him to see his once robust wife get weak.

After much discussion, they both decided that it would be a good idea for them to hire someone to take care of Fleur while Bill went back to work.

Although they could have hired someone professional, they both decided that they would hire Luna. She was usually always calm and Fleur really liked her.

And secretly, Fleur wanted to make sure she and Bill spent as much time together as possible before she passed.

Luna accepted the job with a serene smile. It turned out that she was actually a good caretaker. She could cook, clean and was good at making Fleur comfortable.

Fleur thought her talk of imaginary creatures was strange but found that as she got weaker, she enjoyed the stories of them more.

Two more months passed. By this time, Fleur was put on bed rest and Bill put in for time off again.

Bill would take care of Fleur in the evening while Luna would take care of the house work.

Both the Weasleys and Fleur's family would come to visit her. She hated the look of pity on their faces. If anything, she was the happiest she had ever been.

Her will was figured out and she knew Luna would take good care of her husband when she was gone. And she was at peace. She knew that the afterlife had something good in store for her, and was pretty excited to get there.

Luna was a smart woman and Fleur knew without a doubt that she would eventually catch on and understand that her fate was to be with Bill. However, for Fleur to have peace of mind, she decided to have a talk with Luna.

One day, while Bill was shopping for food, Fleur weakly called Luna into her room.

Something told her that she would not survive the next morning. She needed to make sure that Luna understood that she was to take care of Bill.

Luna came in a few moments later wearing a rainbow apron.

Fleur smiled. She found that Luna's outrageous outfits made her days so bright.

"Yes, Fleur?"

Fleur weakly waved her over to the bed. She knew she must have looked a sight. Her hair lost its sheen and wasn't as bright as it used to be. She had dark, purple circles under her eyes. Her skin was so pale it was almost white.

When her looks first started to fade, Bill had flinched at the sight of her. Now, he was better at hiding his feelings about her looks. If anything, he still managed to look at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

Even Fleur's family couldn't keep the looks of pity off of their faces when her looks began to fade.

Luna was the only one who looked at Fleur the same since the sickness. It simply confirmed that Luna would be a great mate for Bill.

Luna walked into the room and sat down on the bed. As was the habit, she took Fleur's thin body into her arms and stroked her hair.

Fleur closed her eyes. She loved human touch and even though her friends and family tried, she knew all of them, even Bill, were uncomfortable touching her.

Both Luna and Fleur remained silent, enjoying the stillness of the air.

Finally, Luna broke the silence.

"I love him and I will never let him push me away."

Fleur sagged into the bed and closed her eyes.

"You will do the right thing, Luna. I know you will."

Luna kissed Fleur on the forehead.

"Bill should be here in a few moments. I'll make sure he comes up here to hold you. Have fun on your journey. Tell my mother that I love her," Luna said.

Fleur smiled and weakly hugged Luna.

"Not only will I make sure she knows your love, but she will also know what a great person you are. I will be very happy to see you when you start your own journey."

The front door opened.

"It is not my time yet but when it is, I will be more than glad to see you and her as well."

Luna gave Fleur one last kiss and slipped from the bed.

Fleur heard quiet murmurs in the hallway and was very happy to see Bill standing at their bedroom door.

Fleur simply held out her arms toward Bill.

Bill smiled sadly and answered her silent request.

He slid into the bed fully clothed.

Pulling her into his arms, he held her firmly against him and closed his eyes.

"I love you, Bill," Fleur said quietly.

"I love you, Fleur."

Feeling warm and knowing that the people she cared about would eventually live fulfilling lives without her, she made her way into the warm light that would take her on endless adventures for eternity.


	4. Chapter 4

Whoever claimed that death was easier to accept when one was prepared for it was a bloody liar.

Bill stood in front of the chapel where his wife's funereal was being held.

Everyone was already inside, paying their last respects.

Bill couldn't bring himself to go inside.

Even after she died in his arms and after he identified her body at the hospital, he couldn't accept that his wife—his Fleur, was never coming back home.

The pain was so intense. It was different from physical pain, even more different that even the pain of someone hurting you in a relationship.

No, this was a pain that he knew no matter how much time passed, it would never go away.

In losing Fleur, he realized that no matter how angry, sad, or depressed he was that she would never come back. It was the pain of missing someone and never being able to hold them, or kiss them, or even yell at them again.

The pain burned so much that in the end, he was simply numb. The looks of pity didn't even bother him like they used to.

It was like he was in a dreamlike state. He had no idea how he managed to get up in the mornings, how he managed to bathe and eat. It was like a giant blur to him.

Suddenly, he felt a warm hand slip into his.

He looked down to the connection.

The hand was quite petite and pale. His eyes travelled from the hand to the pale arm, to the material covered shoulder, to the pretty collarbone, to the slim neck and finally to the pale face with striking blue eyes.

He stared at the face, finally processing that it was Luna Lovegood, the woman who made his wife happy in her last days.

"Come—it's time to go say goodbye," she said quietly.

Bill let Luna lead him up the steps to the chapel.

Once inside, all he could see was the casket in the very front.

He smiled sadly as he remembered how much he and Fleur argued with each other about whether or not there was going to be a casket. She wanted to be cremated, but Bill was adamant about giving friends and family a chance to see her once more before burying her.

Bill ended up winning, mainly because Fleur knew they would do what felt right with her remains.

The sharp pain hit Bill's heart again as he was once again reminded that they would never talk again.

Luna woman slowly coaxed him forward.

It was one of the longest walks Bill ever took in his life. There was something about the finality of seeing someone in a casket. It seemed to make death even more real.

Finally, Bill was there, staring at her tranquil face. In fact, it looked like she would wake up at any moment.

"Please, Fleur. This isn't a game anymore … please wake up," Bill whispered, his voice sounding like gravel.

The small petite hand squeezed his.

"It's time to let go, Bill. She's in a happy place right now, a place where she's strong. She's going on adventures with others who have passed on. She is finally at peace."

"I don't know if I can live without her," he whispered.

"Don't see it as saying goodbye forever, Bill. See it as saying goodbye for a little while. You will see her again when your time comes."

Bill went silent as he stared down at his wife.

He squeezed the petite hand as tears threatened to fall down his cheeks. He would not break down in front of her friends and family. He had to be strong.

Reaching into the casket, he ran a finger down her pale cheek.

"Goodbye, Fleur," he whispered.

He went to sit down at the pew with his family.

Bill barely remembered what happened during the service and at the wake. He remembered giving out a lot of hugs and laughing without emotion.

The only constant that he had was of Luna being at his side and pushing people along so that he wouldn't be uncomfortable.

Finally, Luna politely kicked everyone out the house. Bill had never been more grateful to be alone in his life.

Muttering a soft thank you to Luna, Bill went into his room and got ready for bed. He thanked every deity he knew that Luna spent the week before the funeral packing Fleur's clothing and washing the bed sheets. He didn't think smelling Fleur at this point would have been good for his pain.

After dressing for bed, Bill slipped under the covers.

He shuffled a little before getting comfortable.

Bill felt exhausted and yet he couldn't sleep.

He listened to the sound of Luna moving around in the house, putting away left overs and cleaning the mess the guests made.

He wondered if she would go home when she was finished. Hell, he wondered if she would still come around with Fleur gone.

Strangely enough, he didn't want Luna to go away. She had been very supportive since Fleur found out about her sickness. She seemed to always be calm and it soothed him in moments where he felt he could scream in his frustration.

Bill's mind wandered to Fleur. He remembered some of the good times they had together—like their wedding, their trip to Egypt, the cold winter nights in front of the fire.

Soon the memories and pain became too much.

He began to sob into his pillow, clutching the sheets between his hands. Soon the sobs turned into moans of pain. His heart hurt so much and yet no amount of sobbing or waling was going to bring her back.

Bill had never felt so alone in his life.

All of a sudden, he felt a warm body embrace him.

The touch simply made Bill sob harder.

The body simply rocked him, handing him tissues when his nose got too stuffy.

Finally, his sobs died down and all he could do was lay there, in pain.

Whoever said that crying helped lessen the pain was a bloody liar too. He balled his bleeding eyes out and he didn't feel better at all.

"You have a lot of pain bottled up inside of you. It will take a while for you to get it all out," Luna said as if she knew what he was thinking.

Bill let out a sigh.

"I just wish the pain will go away. This fucking sucks."

Luna hugged him tighter.

"But it is needed," she said wisely.

B*~B*~B*~B

"Good job, Weasley. That box has stumped us for years and you finally got it open," a goblin said, rubbing its hands with glee.

Bill flashed the goblin a bright smile.

"I can't take the credit, sir. My friend Luna Lovegood had a lot to do with the successful opening of it," Bill said humbly.

"Well then, tell her if she ever needs a job, we will be more than happy to look at her resume."

Bill inwardly shook his head. Luna would be flattered but she wouldn't take the job—not that he was going to tell the goblin that.

"I will be sure to tell her," Bill promised.

"Excellent—now take the rest of the day off. I'll have a new more complicated assignment for you tomorrow."

Bill resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Thank you, sir."

Bill organized his desk and apparated back to his home.

He walked in to the smell of shepherd pie.

"Oh, Bill. You're home early today. Welcome," a dreamy voice drifted from the kitchen.

"Good evening, Luna. Dinner smells good today," Bill said, hanging his coat up.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Luna bending over, taking the shepherd pie out of the oven.

Bill's eyes were glued to her shapely bum. It was only after she straightened up that he realized what he was doing.

Blushing to the roots of his hair, he faced another point in the kitchen to wait for the flaming in his cheeks to go down.

As he did so, he noticed that the table was set differently that night. They normally had informal and comfortable dinners with all of the chairs at the table and a checkered table cloth. Tonight, however, there were only two chairs on each side of the table with a white table cloth, a bottle of wine and candles.

Bill gulped at the sight.

He knew what the setting meant.

It had been more than a year since Fleur had died. In his first six months of mourning, Luna had been very supportive in helping him get through it. By the time he had finished mourning and was finally ready to move on, however, Luna told him about her feelings for him.

At first, Bill had been very angry about Luna's feelings. How dare she betray Fleur and feel anything but friendship for him?

When Bill voiced this to her, Luna simply smiled and gave him the letter that Fleur wrote him before her death that he had been putting off reading.

In it, Fleur told Bill that she knew about Luna's feelings and that it was alright to love her.

Despite this, Bill had avoided the issue of Luna's feeling for him.

It wasn't that he didn't like her. Luna was a beautiful woman and when she wasn't talking about imaginary creatures, she was helping him figure out how to break the curses in his job.

In his heart, he knew that he was starting to fall for her. How could he not?

She was there for him from the very beginning. She comforted his wife and made her happy from her last breath. And when Fleur died, Luna was there holding him every night before he went to bed until he was able to get through a night on his own.

Luna Lovegood was a woman with a big heart who wanted nothing more than for the people she loved to be happy.

Still, Bill couldn't stop feeling as though he were betraying Fleur's memory by having any feelings or attraction to her.

"How was work today?"

Luna snapped Bill out of his thoughts.

He looked over to her, marveling at how she managed to look so beautiful in such a strange ensemble. She wore leggings with giant white boots, and a short yellow polka dress that stopped mid-thigh. Her hair which was normally straight had cork screw curls that hung down her back. Instead of radish earrings, she had snitch earrings the fluttered every time she moved

"I finally opened the box. Now the goblins will take care of carefully working with the artifacts inside. Thank you by the way, for helping me crack the code," Bill said.

Luna walked over to the table, setting one of the pies down with her oven mitts.

"It wasn't a hard code to crack. But I'm happy I could help," she said.

Before walking back to get the other pie, she stood on her tip toes to give Bill a kiss on the cheek.

"And it's good to have you home," she breathed against his skin.

Bill's eyes fluttered closed as she kissed him. He was sad when she pulled away.

He cleared his throat, hoping like hell that she didn't notice his blush. Luna smiled and walked over to the counter to get the other pie.

"It's good to be home. How was your day?" he asked, walking over to one side of the table to sit down.

Luna set the other pie down on the table.

"It was great! Daddy is thinking about handing the Quibbler over to me by the end of the year," she said, pulling off her oven mitts.

And this was how the rest of dinner went. Bill talked about the new project he was given and Luna talked about what she was going to do to change the Quibbler to be a mix of news and of discoveries of new creatures.

After a desert of American style cheese cake, they both moved into the living room to have a glass of wine.

Soon, the wine glasses were empty and the conversation about their jobs was exhausted.

Luna grabbed his hand.

Bill tried to pull away but Luna held on tight.

"I'm not ready for this, Luna," Bill said quietly.

Luna rubbed the top of his hand gently.

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't think I've gotten over Fleur. I don't think I ever will," he said honestly.

"No, you are over Fleur. You are afraid that if you love again, you will be hurt again."

Bill opened and closed his mouth a few times.

He thought she was going to throw the whole 'I won't love Fleur anymore if I love someone else' thing at him. Bill was over that. He knew that he would always have a special place in his heart for Fleur and that no one could ever take that away.

Bill didn't expect her to figure out what his real fear was. He didn't think he could take another person that he loved dying on him. The pain was unbearable and he never wanted to go through it again. He understood better than anyone else how quick life could be taken away from someone.

"You can't tell your heart what to do. It will love even when you don't want to," Luna whispered, her signature dreamy look gone.

Bill looked away from her bright blue eyes.

"I … I just can't, Luna."

"Spend the night with me. If you still feel the same way in the morning, I promise I will be nothing more than a friend to you."

Bill bit his lip.

He really wanted to take up her offer. He hadn't shagged anyone since Fleur had gotten sick. It was actually quite amazing that he lasted as long as he had without any sexual activity since he was known for his hearty sex drive with the slight lycanthropy he gained during the war.

Luna cupped his jaw, gently turning it towards her.

"Give in, Bill. We'll worry about the consequences later."

Bill's control snapped.

One hand wrapped around Luna's waist as his lips devoured hers.

Consequences be damned.

B*~B*~B*~B

**Bill**

_Fleur?_

**You can be so stubborn sometimes, Bill.**

_I don't know what to do, Fleur. I want to love her, but I'm afraid to._

**Love is a wonderful gift, Bill. It is wonderful because it cannot be taken away. It will always live on, even with death. Embrace the love that Luna has, and let it heal you.**

_I miss you, Fleur._

**And you always will, Bill. But don't let that rule your life. Be happy with Luna, Bill. I'll see you on the other side.**

B*~B*~B*~B

Bill woke up the next morning to the sun shining in his face and a warm body snuggled into him.

He looked down and smiled at the sight of Luna Lovegood sleeping in his arms.

Bill waited for the heavy feeling of guilt settle in his heart.

Instead, all he felt was lightness.

Smiling, he pulled Luna more firmly against his chest.

Bill knew when to admit defeat. He just never knew that defeat could be so sweet.


End file.
